Microscopes having an eyepiece, an illumination beam path serving to illuminate a specimen, and a detection beam path that images the specimen have been known for some time in practical use. Several actuation elements, which are embodied, for example, in the form of rotary knobs with which a specimen in the focal plane can be positioned or focused, are provided on the microscope stand for microscope operation. A light source for specimen illumination can be switched on or off, for example, with a switch. A lever permits actuation of a filter slider with which different filters can be introduced into the illumination or detection beam path of the microscope.
Depending on the configuration of the microscope, individual operating functions, or all of them, can be motorized, so that the microscope is (remotely) operable, for example, by way of a computer connected to the microscope.
For an inexpert user, however, the operation of a microscope is anything but efficient and ergonomic. When beginning a specimen examination, a microscope operator usually looks through the eyepieces in order first to locate and adjust the specimen. In other words, he focuses the specimen and positions it in the focal plane in such a way that the specimen region of interest to him is imaged by the microscope objective into the eyepiece. The operator must, in this context, operate a plurality of actuation elements that are mounted at different points on the microscope stand. To reach them, he must often move his head and eyes away from the eyepieces and look in the direction of the operating elements so as then to be able to grasp and operate them with his hand. This is time-consuming, tiring, and not ergonomic. Incorrect operation of microscopes also regularly occurs, specifically with inexperienced microscope operators, because an incorrect lever is accidentally actuated, and the desired result is not thereby obtained. Even an experienced operator is often subject to operating errors, however, when he operates microscopes in a laboratory that are made by different manufacturers, or different microscope models or versions from the same manufacturer.
The arrangement on a microscope of the actuation elements known per se from the existing art is problematic in particular in ergonomic terms. For example, in almost all cases the three actuation elements are spaced too far apart from one another, so that after focusing the specimen, the operator's hand must be moved to the other two actuation elements in order to adjust the microscope stage in the X and Y directions. An unpracticed operator, in particular, must remove his eyes from the eyepieces for this purpose in order to see where the rotary knobs for the microscope stage are located, in order then to be able to grasp and actuate them with his hand. As a result, it is possible to work efficiently with the microscope only after a very long familiarization phase, i.e. when the operator can find and operate the actuation elements “blind.”